b4breeding

In my latest article in Breeding Matters I wrote about some of the relatively new sires that are making an early appearance as damsires at the 2012 NZ yearling sales:

Mach Three (Lots 112, 129, 131, 291 at Christchurch)
Bettor’s Delight (Lots 132 and 283 at Christchurch
Courage Under Fire (Lots 14 and 101 at Karaka) 
McArdle (Lot 140 at Christchurch)
Washington VC (Lots 24, 49, 169 and 323 at Christchurch) 
Elsu (Lot 17 at Christchurch)
Western Terror (Lot 68 Karaka)

I’d like to have a look at some of these in a bit more detail over the next few blogs, because it’s interesting when breeders move into new territory.

None of the Mach Three, McArdle, Courage Under Fire, Bettor’s Delight, and Elsu mares are successful racehorses retired with a significant reputations or wins to their name. Only two (by Courage Under Fire and McArdle) won a race. That’s no surprise. Untried or lightly raced dams are common in the catalogue, and it just means the yearling is relying more on other factors than their mum’s success – factors such as the family reputation, individual type, and of course the popularity of his damsire and the selected sire with trainers and buyers.

Besides, the top performing fillies and mares from these sires are still doing the business on the track or were only recently retired to stud, and they will start appearing at future sales.

Featuring : Lot 17 Christchurch, Jack Black

 – a Mach Three yearling from Elsu mare “Black And Royal” (2006).

This is Elsu’s first appearance in the yearling sales catalogue as a damsire. (Correct me if I’m wrong!)

This yearling comes from the Spirit Of Venus family which produces really good horses now and then. The black type on the page is impressive, but the odds are intriguing. Spirit Of Venus had 15 foals for 4 winners (Nketia and Ciccio Star being the standouts, with Whata Spirit getting 4 wins and the only other winner was her second foal Pitman, a colt by Midshipman who managed only 1 win.)

While the Yarndleys bred most of Spirit Of Venus’ foals, Michelle Carson bought the mare when she was older and proving harder to get in foal, and chose Elsu (who was standing in his first season) because he was “supremely fertile”. She recalls being on the spot early in the morning, watching him being collected, then took the fresh semen and “drove like a maniac back home” where the vet was on standby.

The result was a gorgeous black filly with white markings, which she named Black And Royal. Mainly due to timing and resources, the mare is genuinely untried as a racehorse. There were delays and “in the end I thought I might as well start breeding from her,” Michelle Carson says.

The Elsu-Spirit of Venus cross means Black And Royal has a heap of excellent old New Zealand bloodlines with no double ups until well back in its pedigree, when the maternal family of Elsu brings in U.Scott and Spinster (and those are two excellent double ups to have on board in combination), so it’s an old fashioned but quality foundation for a modern broodmare.

Matching the mare with Mach Three was less for pedigree reasons, Michelle says, and more because she loves the Mach Threes – “They are beautifully gaited, and have a long, reaching stride,” she says. She was involved with Mach Of A Man, a very promising juvenile whose career was curtailed by bad luck and injury.

Michelle sold Jack Black as a weanling, because of having too many to raise and prepare on her own. Allan Clark for Highview Standardbred Ltd in Riverton was the buyer. He says Mach Threes can sometimes be plain types of yearlings, but Elsu has added type. He describes the yearling as a lovely colt, almost black, not a big type but a strong barrel and “quarters like an Angus bull”. A real two year old type.

Black And Royal’s next foal is by Christian Cullen.

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